Chapter 979

"Tai'er, this strategy of your uncle's is called 'fishing in troubled waters'."

"'Fishing in troubled waters'?"

Li Tai was a bit unable to understand.

"Uncle, do you mean you want to stir up the sea? But in this way, what kind of fish can you catch? What benefits can there be in the sea?" It was no wonder Li Tai thought this way.

Many people thought that the vast sea was just a sheet of water, and the only benefit was fish.

Actually, that was not the case.

Zhangsun Wuji revealed a smug smile and explained to Li Tai.

"Great Tang is responsible for transporting ten million prisoners of war to Liaodong; you know about this, right?"

"I know!"

Li Tai raised his chubby face and blinked his small eyes, which were flashing with shrewdness.

"Uncle wants to target those ten million prisoners of war? But those are what Great Qin wants!"

Zhangsun Wuji shook his head.

"Great Qin's prisoners of war naturally cannot be touched. However, Great Qin only requires that ten million prisoners of war arrive at the Liaodong port.

Who knows how many we transport from here in total?

With a group of pirates, couldn't we just grab as many prisoners of war as we want along the way?"

"Oh..."

Li Tai's eyes widened, and he finally understood Zhangsun Wuji's meaning.

"So, that's what the pirates are for? And then sell the extra prisoners of war to Great Qin?"

Zhangsun Wuji was truly furious.

He slapped Li Tai on the head.

"You fool, how much money can you earn by selling them to Great Qin? Can't we use these extra prisoners of war ourselves? Don't you know that His Majesty the Emperor wants to develop the two large islands of Yingzhou and Zhuyai?

How much profit can each free prisoner of war create for us?"

Li Tai took a slap but didn't dare to make a sound.

Right now, whether he could become the Crown Prince depended entirely on his uncle, Zhangsun Wuji.

When his uncle lectured him, he could only listen.

However, he had gained a rough understanding of Zhangsun Wuji's grand plan.

Perhaps in the near future, the two large islands of Yingzhou and Zhuyai would become the private territory of the Zhangsun family.

These two large pieces of territory would also become his capital for striving for the position of Crown Prince.

Just at this moment, there was a clamor outside.

The guards outside the tent came in to report.

"Lord Zhangsun, the elders of the four great aristocratic families have urgent business and request an audience!"

"Let them in!"

After Zhangsun Wuji finished speaking, he swapped positions with Li Tai.

In front of outsiders, Li Tai was after all the Prince of Wei and should sit in the seat of honor. He, Zhangsun Wuji, although the head of all officials, also had to sit below the Prince of Wei. The four old men entered, and one of them, disregarding his image, was weeping and wailing. Seeing Zhangsun Wuji, he started shouting.

"Lord Zhangsun, you must make the decision for me; the Emperor wants to kill me!"

"Kill you?"

Zhangsun Wuji was shocked.

To say such rebellious words, it seemed this matter was no small thing.

"Wang Jing, speak clearly, what do you mean the Emperor wants to kill you?" It turned out that the old man crying was none other than Wang Jing.

He felt that he had suffered a great injustice and was crying very miserably.

"In the early years, the Retired Emperor ordered my Wang family to build a temple in Longcheng.

Because that is the place where the dragon rose, the Retired Emperor also did it to add auspiciousness to this place.

But now, the Emperor suddenly says that building the temple destroyed the Great Tang dragon vein, and based on this, concludes that my Wang clan is plotting a rebellion!

You all judge for yourselves, is there anything more absurd than this?"

Zhangsun Wuji began to calculate in his heart.

He knew very well that the Emperor taking action against the Wang clan would definitely not be a simple dragon vein destruction case.

Of course, if the dragon vein were truly destroyed, the Wang family would indeed deserve to die!

The problem was that this matter might prove that the Emperor's thoughts had begun to change.

"What do you other three families mean?"

... Flowers... 0

The other three families, Cui, Lu, and Fan, were of the same breath and branch as the Wang family, and were collectively known as the four great noble families of the world.

Old Man Lu said.

"I'm afraid the Emperor investigating the dragon vein case is a fake, and the real intention is to take action against our four great aristocratic families!" Old Man Cui had a fiery temper and shouted.

"Old Man Lu is right! Dealing with the Wang family is just a probe to see the reaction of our four great aristocratic families.

Once we compromise, the Emperor's next step might be to deal with our Cui family!"

In terms of strength, among the four great aristocratic families, the Wang clan was indeed the weakest.

The Cui family was the strongest before, but unfortunately, after the Jin Ling night raid incident, the Cui family had fallen to the third position.

After the Wang family, it was indeed the Cui family's turn.

The last old man, Old Man Fan, who hadn't spoken, gave people a sinister feeling just by looking at his face.

He opened his mouth and said.

"I heard that the Wang clan's case has been settled, their property has been confiscated into the national treasury, and all the clansmen have been exiled to the sea heart sandbar east of Huating.

Now, Yuchi Gong is leading people to come and arrest Wang Jing. It's a matter of these one or two days."

These words invisibly added a lot of pressure to everyone's hearts.

Zhangsun Wuji had only just learned of this and needed to think about it.

Li Tai, however, jumped up.

"You all have worked hard and are all meritorious subjects of Great Tang; how can the Imperial Father do such a thing of discarding the bow once the birds are gone?"

The Prince of Wei's sudden stance made the four great aristocratic families seem to see a life-saving straw.

The four old men immediately bowed and thanked him.

Several people suddenly began to feel compatible and started chattering and discussing the faults of the imperial court.

Zhangsun Wuji became annoyed in his heart.

These guys who are not enough to succeed but more than enough to fail!

His brand-new grand layout had just begun, and it was a time when he needed a little time to develop.

Yet this kind of thing happened, almost completely disrupting his layout.

Zhangsun Wuji was so angry he really wanted to curse!

"You few, do you still want to rebel?

Let me tell you, rebellion only has a dead end!"

Zhangsun Wuji suddenly flew into a rage, startling the few people so much that they didn't dare to speak.

Even the Prince of Wei, Li Tai, quieted down, stood to the side with his head lowered, and didn't dare to make a sound.

Zhangsun Wuji didn't care whether the Wang clan would be destroyed.

What he cared about was his own plan.

Sacrificing one Wang family, what did that count for?